Drainage of wetlands. Drainage of the suburban area

More than 10% of the territory of Russia is occupied by swamps. We can say that this is one of the main natural indicators of the country. But whether swamps are wealth, and whether draining swamps makes sense, we will consider in this article.

Seems like a total benefit.

Russia is a huge country with a large population. And this population needs to be fed. And if the degree of waterlogging of some territories is more than 30%, where to get fertile soil for crops? This is one of the main goals of such a phenomenon as the drainage of swamps. It is known that swamps cover flat areas, most suitable for meadows and arable land. The same applies to forest areas. In wetlands, the forest practically does not grow, and if it grows, then it is impossible to use this wood, since it is difficult to extract and export it.

The second reason that justifies the drainage of forest swamps is fires. Everyone has already understood how dangerous the burning of peat becomes. A swamp is formed by overgrowing a reservoir. At first, the main vegetation is reeds and reeds, then the water stagnates and becomes covered with duckweed, sedge and cinquefoil begin to grow. The last plant has a powerful root system, and it is not so easy to remove it. Gradually, vegetation covers the entire water surface, and sphagnum mosses or, in other words, peat mosses, form on it. Peat is dry, its moisture content is no more than 2%, and therefore it is easily flammable, but under it there can be many meters of water.

Now imagine that due to someone else's, more often human, negligence, a spark falls on a peat bog, and it lights up. Fire in peat bogs is a terrible phenomenon. Firstly, peat burns in breadth and depth, because when high temperature the water underneath starts to evaporate. Secondly, it is not possible to extinguish such a fire with conventional equipment - it simply will not pass into wetlands. As a result, the process becomes uncontrollable and brings the country millions of dollars in losses.

Drainage of swamps - violation of the ecological balance

However, the drainage of swamps has negative side. Along with obtaining high-quality fuel, which is peat, expanding fertile lands and forest lands, draining forests leads to adverse environmental consequences.

Wetlands are real reservoirs of clean water. The fact is that the notorious sphagnum mosses are excellent antiseptics, and, therefore, a full-fledged natural filter. Further, the drainage of swamps reduces the supply of small, and, accordingly, large rivers. Fresh water, flows into the ocean and becomes salty.

Drainage of the forest leads to the death of vegetation that needs moisture. This primarily concerns coniferous trees, berries - cloudberries, cranberries, etc. Moreover, not only the forest in the vicinity of drained swamps suffers, but also those located tens of kilometers away, since groundwater respects the principle of communicating vessels. The change in the flora of the area is accompanied by a change in the fauna. Fish, birds, invertebrates and animals, whose lives depend on dying vegetation and proximity to a reservoir, die.

Draining the forest will have irreversible consequences if you do not approach this issue wisely. It is necessary to regulate the water regime, leaving reservoirs in the upper reaches of the rivers and swampy areas in the watersheds. It is impossible to drain swamps located on sandy and sandy loamy soils, as well as those on which cranberries, cloudberries, and blueberries grow. It is important to preserve swamps, where rare species of plants, including medicinal ones, and animals grow.

What if we are talking about a suburban area?

However, if we are talking about an ordinary summer cottage in a wetland, which, after a long struggle with the leadership of the district, a lot of spent money and nerves, gets into your use, it’s even ridiculous to talk about the dangers of drainage. It is unlikely that the ecosystem will be significantly damaged if you drain your 6-10 acres. Especially if you do not plan to make cloudberries the main garden crop.

The drainage of swamps leads to a change in the general hydrological regime of the territory and turns them from ecosystems that fix carbon into territories that release carbon dioxide during the mineralization of peat, which occurs when it dries out due to aerobic microbiological processes. Drainage caused great damage to the Non-Chernozem in the European part of Russia, where thousands of rivers and streams disappeared and the general drying up of the territory began, the yield of field crops and meadows decreased. In a number of cases, arable land on drained peatlands turned out to be unproductive.[ ...]

Drainage consists in an artificial decrease in the level of groundwater in swamps, which leads to a change in the ratio of elements of the water balance and the redistribution of runoff. This is achieved by creating artificial drainage. In the practice of reclamation work, the drainage of marshes is carried out using a system of open drainage ditches or closed drains (“molehills”). The waters flowing into the swamp from the outside are intercepted by "upland" ditches. In some cases, in the subtropics, the level can be reduced by planting eucalyptus trees, which have a high transpiration capacity, in combination with calming.[ ...]

Drained swamps are of great value for the national economy. On drained lowland bogs, a highly productive Agriculture: swamps are sown with fodder, grain, vegetable crops etc. The highest yields are obtained when creating double-acting drainage systems: acting as drainage devices during periods of excess moisture and as moisturizing (irrigating) during periods of its lack.[ ...]

Drainage of waterlogged forest lands is an effective way to increase wood growth. However, not all wetland forests are responsive to drainage. Thus, observations in Polissya showed that it is not advisable to drain raised peat bogs with pine forests growing on them. Draining transitional bogs for growing forests gives the greatest silvicultural efficiency.[ ...]

After the swamps are drained, a diverse flora of cap saprophytic fungi develops on the forest floor, which gradually mineralizes the forest floor and decomposes the underlying peat layers. Ultimately, this leads to the formation of very fertile soils on the site of the former peatlands.[ ...]

However, dehumidification should be carried out within reasonable limits. A decrease in the level of groundwater during the drainage of swamps by more than 1.5 m from the soil surface contributes to the rapid oxidation of peat and the removal nutrients into drainage ditches. With a further decrease in their level, the root-inhabited horizon is separated from the capillary border, which leads to the death of forests.[ ...]

Massive drainage of swamps, deforestation, change in the direction of river flow, etc. forms of anthropogenic activity have had a detrimental effect on various ecological systems in the form of the destruction of the stable relationships that have developed in them and certain ecological characteristics on a planetary scale (for example, an ecologically stable Earth system has a constant mass and a constant average temperature) and conditioned the threat of global environmental disasters.[ .. .]

Protection of raised bogs. Raised bogs play an important role in maintaining ecological balance. environment, established natural complexes. They serve as a source of power for many rivers, regulate spring runoff, making floods less turbulent and destructive; accumulated in them spring and rain water maintain the level of groundwater that feeds the surrounding fields and meadows. In addition, swamps are a habitat for game birds, animals and give rich harvests of berries. In good years, up to 3 t/ha of cranberries, 2 t/ha of lingonberries and blueberries, a lot of blueberries and other berries are harvested from swamps. In monetary terms, this gives income several times greater than arable land of the same area. For these reasons, the drainage of swamps must be approached with extreme caution, carefully weighing the possible consequences.[ ...]

In a number of cases, after the swamps were drained, the resulting damage turned out to be much greater than the expected positive effect, as a result of which the swamps had to be restored again, spending additional funds on this.[ ...]

In the presence of vivianite in drained swamps, the positive effect of phosphate fertilizers is usually insignificant or practically absent.[ ...]

Massive deforestation, drainage of swamps, along with the ever-increasing consumption of previously buried organic compounds, contribute to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.[ ...]

The role of swamps in the natural balance is absolutely indispensable. They are important regulators of river flow, accumulating excess moisture during a flood and gradually releasing it with the onset of a dry period. Ill-considered, uncontrolled drainage of swamps often irreversibly upsets this balance, turning water meadows into barren solonchaks, depriving arable lands of moisture.[ ...]

Drainage (from English - drain) - drainage of agricultural land with the help of special hydraulic structures (wells, canals, ditches, etc.). Drainage is used as a mandatory technique for draining swamps, in combating water erosion of soils, protecting land transport communications, from landslides, floods, etc.[ ...]

copper fertilizers. They are used in drained swamps and peat soils under flax, hemp, sugar beet.[ ...]

It is necessary to note the success of the British in draining the swampy soils and coastal lowlands. The second example of this kind (it is the first in time) is Holland, where at the same time the previously carried out drainage of lakes and sea estuaries sharply intensified. For a period of 10-15 years on a drained polder, with the use of fertilizers, alfalfa crops, the soil "more productive than natural" was obtained. True, the labor required was incredible, and the people who farmed here had a proverb: “The first farmer dies, the second suffers, the third lives” (Bondarev, 1979, p. 52).[ ...]

It is most effective when fertilizing drained swamps, on carbonate peat soils, as well as soils containing little copper. Wheat, sugar beet, sunflower, peas respond well to pyrite cinders. The rate of application to the soil is 5-6 kg / ha. As a water-insoluble fertilizer, it is not suitable for seed treatment and foliar feeding. In Bashkiria, waste from copper smelters in the Trans-Urals should be widely tested as copper fertilizers.[ ...]

DRAINAGE [fr. drainage from English. drain - drain] - a method of draining waterlogged lands by diverting surface and groundwater(so-called. drainage water) with the help of special ditches and underground pipes - drains. D. is used in draining swamps, in the fight against water erosion of soils, in the protection of land transport communications from landslides, floods, etc.; in the southern regions - for desalinization of saline soils. DUPLICATION ECOLOGICAL - relative functional interchangeability of populations (coenopopulations) of species of one trophic group in an ecosystem. D.e. - one of the mechanisms for ensuring the reliability (sustainability) of ecosystems, since with D.e. extinct or destroyed species, as a rule, is replaced by a functionally similar one.[ ...]

Despite the fact that the area of ​​peat bogs alone in the world is more than 1 million km, there is currently serious problem swamp protection. For this purpose, as well as to study the prospects for their rational use, a special international organization was created in 1967, uniting scientists from 18 countries. The rate of drainage of swamps is now so high that in many places it threatens their complete disappearance. However, such an outcome is completely unacceptable. Even purely economic aspects convince of this: for example, according to American data, only leasing hunting grounds in swamps, with huts and huts, gives more profit than turning these swamps into agricultural areas. Usually, hundreds of species of birds and valuable fur-bearing animals (nutrias, muskrats) are found in abundance in swamps. Often, swamps are magnificent berry fields: there, without any use of human labor and fertilizers, 2 quintals of cranberries grow, 7-8 quintals of cloudberries per hectare.[ ...]

Russian foresters have long shown an interest in the issues of draining swampy forest lands and thus increasing the productivity of the forest. The drainage of swampy forests, carried out in the Leningrad region, the Baltic states, Belarus and the central regions of Russia, indicates the indisputable positive effect of drying on forest growth. In the 80s of the last century, work was carried out on the study and drainage of swamps in the provinces of Novgorod (begun in 1875), Olonetsk and Yaroslavl (begun in 1879), Pskov (1880) and some others. But the experience of draining forest lands is not widespread. This was hindered by socio-economic conditions and the low level of technology of that time.[ ...]

Disappears as a result of destruction of habitats (due to drainage of swamps, development of peatlands). It is necessary to organize reserves in the most representative places in various parts of the range.[ ...]

Shreter E. I. News of the work done in the Ryabova manor during the drainage of swamps. - Proceedings of the VEO, part 3, St. Petersburg, 1783, pp. 3-25. .[ ...]

Surface-layered peat extraction is mechanized. After draining the swamp, it is processed with a cutter, tooth or disc harrow, to a depth of 5-10 cm; as soon as this layer dries up, peat is raked into heaps with special large shovels (on horse or tractor traction). Peat dried in them can be taken out to the field in winter. It is better to make it as a pair for winter crops.[ ...]

US water experts were the first to realize that the indiscriminate draining of swamps and shallow lakes to expand agricultural land and industrial sites, and eliminate breeding sites for mosquitoes and other unpleasant insects, was a thing of the past. The harm from the drainage of water systems, which leads to a change in the fertility of soils that have lost the regulation of runoff during low water, the death of the animal world and, above all, birds, far exceeds the benefit from the formation of new fields. In the United States, they developed and implemented a revival program, as they call it, "bogs." By 2000, 16 thousand hectares of swamps in the upper reaches of the Mississippi and the state of Alabama have been restored. The work was carried out by dredging and alluvium.[ ...]

Solid waste has previously been deposited in coastal areas, including swamp drainage areas. However, this method turned out to be unsatisfactory: almost catastrophic pollution of spawning areas and habitats of oysters was observed. These and other environmental factors have necessitated the prohibition of such waste disposal practices.[ ...]

Human intervention in nature upsets the existing balance. Deforestation, drainage of swamps, destruction of dams and straightening of channels lead to the fact that spring waters freely roll into rivers and go into the sea. Stormy spring streams wash away the slopes and banks, silt up the channels and close the springs. Soil erosion is facilitated by cutting down coastal shrubs and plowing land to the water's edge.[ ...]

A high effect is obtained from some phosphorus and especially potash fertilizers in the meadows of drained swamps and mineral soils poor in potassium.[ ...]

Habitat disturbance due to deforestation, plowing of steppes and fallow lands, drainage of swamps, flow regulation, creation of reservoirs and other anthropogenic impacts radically changes the conditions for the reproduction of wild animals, their migration routes, which has a very negative impact on their numbers and survival.[ .. .]

Today's reduction of the relict taiga in Russia is mainly due to deforestation and drainage of swamps. But on an increasingly large scale, the influence of the construction of transport routes and industrial zones for the extraction and processing of minerals begins to affect.[ ...]

Habitat disturbance, due to deforestation and burning, plowing of steppes and fallow lands, drainage of swamps, regulation of runoff, creation of reservoirs and other anthropogenic impacts, radically changes the conditions for the reproduction of wild animals, their migration routes, which has a very negative impact on their numbers and survival. . Habitat destruction is recognized as the main cause of species extinction or reduction in their numbers. It has put more than 390 species of vertebrate animals in a threatening state, which, excluding pollution factors, is 50% of all other causes of their extinction (Yablokov et al., 1985).[ ...]

When assessing the impact on flora and fauna, it is necessary to determine the areas of deforestation and drainage of swamps, the impact zone of pollutants discharged by the facility, changes in land use in the construction area, as well as the negative consequences associated with the listed factors. Information about the state of vegetation in a certain area should be linked to the parameters of the relief and soil characteristics. At the same time, it is necessary to group forest, meadow and other parts of the territory according to the main taxonometric features, highlighting common plant associations and indicating the degree of their disturbance (degradation).[ ...]

An increase in the productivity of forests is also achieved by replacing tree plantations with more productive species, and by draining swamps. The main form of forest care is thinning. It is known that natural thinning of the forest occurs with age. Foresters have replaced this process with an artificial one. They cut down low-value trees and create favorable conditions for the growth and development of a good-quality forest stand. Carrying out thinning contributes to the formation of forests from trees of valuable tree species and High Quality, accelerate growth and increase forest productivity. In addition, when old and infected trees are removed, the sanitary condition of the forest improves. Thinning and sanitary cuttings are also carried out in the young. In 1999, thinning and sanitary felling amounted to 19.5 million m3. A decrease in the volume of these cuttings can lead to a deterioration in the quality of forests.[ ...]

Mounted swamp cutter FBN-0.9. Working width 0.9 m. Designed to destroy soil layers after plowing in drained swamps and wetlands, as well as to destroy organic or mineral hummocks in meadows and pastures. It is aggregated with tractors DT-54A and DT-55A.[ ...]

We also mention that in the Far North, in the Arkhangelsk experimental field, superphosphate gives large growths of grasses in a drained swamp, and the figures are of the following order: without fertilizer - 70 pounds of hay, with superphosphate - 270 pounds, and the effect of superphosphate lasts several years (see . reports of I. I. Benevolensky in the "Northern economy").[ ...]

Deforestation, an increase in the area of ​​deserts, the replacement of natural cenoses by highly specialized agrocenoses, the drainage of swamps, the creation of artificial reservoirs change the albedo of the earth's surface and the structure of the natural circulation of chemical elements. All ego adversely affects the climate and the productivity of the biota.[ ...]

Compared to snow, peat is not only a spatial, but also a temporal indicator of pollution, since peat bogs accumulate information about environmental pollution over a long period of time. Raised bogs provide the most reliable data due to the low geochemical background and slow biological cycle. The informativity of drained swamps significantly decreases when studying the dynamics of pollution (Doncheva, Kazakov et al., 1992). Vegetation is widely used as indicators of geosystem disturbances, in particular, epiphytic lichen and moss vegetation are among the optimal indicators of the early stages of landscape disturbance in the forest zone. Soil, including soil microflora, is a good indicator in studying the response to catastrophe.[ ...]

Human economic activity in the catchment area of ​​the river and its banks also affects the hydrological regime. Drainage of swamps, withdrawal of water for domestic and industrial needs, discharges Wastewater etc. lead to a change in the flow of the river. Particular attention should be paid to cases when water is withdrawn for household needs from the catchment area of ​​one river, and the water is used or returned to nature in the catchment area of ​​another. This greatly affects the natural distribution of water and can lead to the drying of some areas and waterlogging of others.[ ...]

In the zone of increased moisture, the main factor influencing the water balance is drainage reclamation. Drainage of swamps leads to drying up and sedimentation of the peat layer. At first, the runoff increases somewhat, but in different landscapes this process occurs in different ways and depends on the subsequent use of these territories. When creating on-site bo-. a lot of highly productive agricultural land, it may be necessary to periodically apply artificial irrigation to ensure transpiration. In general, any measures to intensify agriculture and increase productivity, and hence transpiration, lead to a restructuring of the water balance in the direction of reducing surface runoff.[ ...]

On soil maps or simply on land use plans, areas of newly developed lands (from under uprooted forests, drained swamps), as well as river floodplains and excessively moist soils, solonetzic soil spots, etc., are specially distinguished, since special areas are developed for such areas. fertilizer application plans.[ ...]

Often, the quality of soils and their structure deteriorate due to the imperfection of the technologies of agrochemical measures - land irrigation, drainage of swamps, deforestation, digging channels, etc. They are the main reasons for the destruction of humus, water and wind erosion of soils, its leaching (replacement of calcium in it with potassium).[ ...]

Change in animal habitats is the most common phenomenon, which has taken on enormous proportions. Deforestation, plowing the steppes, draining swamps, building reservoirs and canals, building roads, etc. radically changed the face of entire continents. Naturally, these changes turned out to be unfavorable for a number of animals, and either the species died out or their numbers drastically decreased, often they were preserved only in protected areas.[ ...]

Anthropogenic vegetation is a plant community resulting from human activities: crops, tree planting, livestock grazing, swamp drainage, etc. The relationship between atmospheric pollution and the circulation of substances is shown in fig. eight.[ ...]

The protection of the white crane perfectly illustrates the possibilities of saving rare birds. However, such an event requires a lot of effort. This crane was once a common bird in the swamps of North America. Direct persecution and drainage of swamps led to the fact that at the beginning of the 20th century. he disappeared as a nesting bird in the USA. In Canada, only 20-30 birds survived, the nesting sites of which were unknown. In 1937, they found their last wintering place in the Arkansas Reserve in the swampy meadows of Texas, where by 1941 only 15 birds remained. Only in 1954 were their nests discovered in a remote corner of the Canadian national park Wood Buffalo.[ ...]

In general, it is not difficult to guess that, as the population grows, people will be forced to transform all new mature (climax) ecosystems into simple young productive ones (for example, by destroying rainforest, drainage of swamps, etc.). To maintain these systems at a "young" age, the use of fuel and energy resources will increase. In addition, there will be a loss of species (genetic) diversity and natural landscapes(Table 10.1).[ ...]

Large-scale transformations of nature - the plowing of virgin lands, the construction of giant hydroelectric power plants with the construction of large reservoirs and the flooding of floodplain territories, river diversion projects, the construction of large agro-industrial complexes, the drainage of swamps - all these are powerful environmental risk factors for nature and humans.[ ...]

Despite past successes, soil conservation tends to be resting on its laurels and is lagging behind the times. For example, too much effort is currently being made to increase the area of ​​arable land; huge sums of money are spent on regulation, draining of swamps, etc., and at the same time, nothing is done to save the excellent lands from the destruction associated with poorly planned urban development. Land surveyor training programs are largely outdated; they should be expanded, increasing the role of the exact and social sciences in them, introducing courses on the ecology of pollution and human ecology. In other words, the problem of soil protection, in particular, and the science of land use in general, should focus not only on agriculture and forestry, but also deal with the rural-urban landscape complex, where the most pressing problems now exist (see Yu. Odum, 1969a ).[ ...]

In developed countries, plowing of land has stabilized. It is considered economically more profitable to intensify agriculture than to expand arable land. It is believed that the area of ​​arable land can be increased to 20-25% of the land area by irrigating lands in arid conditions, draining marshes and shallow waters, clearing undergrowth, and removing stones. According to the FAO, up to 70% of the world's land resources fall on unproductive lands.[ ...]

In field experiments, in addition to species, forms, doses, time and methods of application, a combination of agrochemistry issues with cultivation methods of a particular crop, varieties of agricultural plants, features of soil and climatic zones (liming of acidic soils, gypsum of solonetzes, drainage of marshes in the northern areas, irrigation in areas of insufficient moisture), organizational and economic conditions, etc. However, with all the variety of topics and under any conditions, it is necessary to think in advance and write down a plan or procedure for conducting a field experiment based on the previously stated general guidelines on an experimental case and the use of additional literature.[ ...]

Oxygen technogenic barriers arise most often when pumping gley (rarely hydrogen sulfide) water from mines, adits, quarries and wells. These barriers, like the considered alkaline barriers, do not affect the general course of element migration in the biosphere. However, there are also technogenic oxygen barriers that arise over large areas. They are the result of swamp drainage and control the migration of Re, Mn, Co on a scale approaching the biospheric one. Even more dangerous are the consequences of the oxidation of previously buried large masses of undecomposed organic matter (mainly peat) on these barriers. The scale of these consequences can be judged by the terrible fires in the Moscow region in 2002. Extinguishing these fires by all modern means did not give for several months positive results. Only the beginning of the rainy season led to the elimination of fires. You should think about this before drawing up plans for draining the swamps of Siberia and creating new oxygen barriers.[ ...]

In the practice of water treatment, various technological methods and methods for improving water quality are used. The choice of rational schemes for the treatment of natural and waste water presents significant difficulties. This is due to the complexity of the composition of natural and waste waters and high requirements for the quality of treatment; change in the composition of the water of the reservoir as a result of the descent of effluents of new industrial enterprises, the development of water transport, the drainage of swamps (located upstream), the expansion of peat mines, etc. Such violations complicate not only the design of new ones, but also the improvement of long-exploited treatment facilities. The considerations underlying the classification developed by us made it possible to systematize the existing water treatment methods using the example of natural water treatment.[ ...]

There are about 5,000 small rivers in the Urals economic region, with a total length of over 110,000 km (that is, the vast majority). Small rivers are intensively used for water supply and irrigation and bear the main burden of anthropogenic impact: pollution by industrial and domestic wastewater of varying degrees of purification, clogging with wood and wood waste, siltation due to natural erosion and discharges from the mining industry, waterlogging and disturbance by drainage processing, depletion and drying up due to deforestation, drainage of swamps, etc. Hydrometeorological studies of small rivers are carried out in isolated cases, there are not enough series of observations of their runoff and other regime parameters necessary to predict the state and plan the use of river resources.

The idea to restore drained peat bogs in the Moscow region will require significant funds and gigantic volumes of water, the sources of which are limited in the central part of Russia, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Kirill Dyakonov, head of the Department of Physical Geography and Landscape Science at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University, told RIA Novosti.

Bogs are found in almost all natural areas and are very diverse. They differ in vegetation cover, structure of peat deposits, location in the relief, as well as in terms of water and mineral nutrition.

According to one of the classifications, according to the features of peat accumulation, five categories of bogs are distinguished:
- peatless bogs, where, due to the nature of the environment, peat does not accumulate (for example, deltaic and floodplain bogs, where peat is not formed due to the drift and drift of residues);
- thin (polygonal) swamps - peat accumulation is slow; these swamps do not create their own hydrological system and microrelief;
- mosaic-focal peatlands, where peat deposits occur unevenly over the entire area (hummocky bogs of the North, ryam and borrow bogs of Siberia);
- typical peatlands (bogs of the forest zone);
- peat-cloaks - peat accumulation is so intense that it practically does not depend on terrain conditions (bogs in coastal areas Western Europe, in a less pronounced form, the swamps of Kamchatka and Sakhalin).